Klaus Walz
Lieutenant Colonel was the charismatic commanding officer of Ausbruch, the 502nd Imperial Heavy Tank Battalion. This elite unit fought on the Federation front in EWII under his command. Profile Imperial lieutenant colonel, age 31. Leads the elite 502nd heavy tank battalion known as Ausbruch. Fearless and tactically flexible. He believes in his instincts above all else, and relies on them in battle. He thrills in combat, and is always happy to have worthy adversaries. After being bested by Claude in their first encounter, he grew quite attached to him-seeing him as his greatest rival in the Federation. He's a bastard child of a noble family. After his mother died, he spent his life in the slums. He has no love for the Empire-only for his hometown. When returning home, Crymaria went with him. With his war merits (and a Valkyrian girlfriend), many call him "the most dangerous man in Europa." Personality into battle while standing on top of the commander's hatch.]] Walz was a bold, charming, and good-humoured man who saw himself as equal to his men and regarded them as a part of his family. He was a born showman with a love of dramatic speeches and a larger-than-life personality, and never allowed defeat to sour his mood. He also had a natural gift of intuition, both about military situations and about people. He preferred to think of opposing commanders as good-natured rivals, referring to Claude Wallace as his "soulmate" and always considering him a worthy adversary. He had a strong sense of right and wrong and a chivalrous nature, and both of these left him extremely skeptical of Heinrich Belgar when he encountered the latter. His allegiance to Belgar was only ever for the good of his unit, and he was repulsed by the doctor's experiments, particularly being disturbed by the downward spiral of Nikola Graf and Chiara Rocino's mental states as Belgar repeatedly "calibrated" them. He was not averse to speaking his mind regardless of who he was speaking to, and had little regard for decorum outside of simple politeness. He loved idle talk, and would often attempt to strike up friendly conversation with Forseti, despite the latter's barely-concealed disdain for him. Walz also saw himself as a ladies' man, and with his roguish charm and good looks he was not exactly mistaken in this assessment. His relentless positivity even managed to make an impression on Crymaria Levin, and in doing so helped the unstable Valkyria to gain some measure of control over her powers. While he was loved by his men, his unconventional attitudes and dubious lineage won him few friends in the upper echelons of the Imperial military, which mostly consisted of officers of aristocratic origin. They wasted no time in attempting to disband his unit when a chance presented itself. Pre-EWII In 1933 EC, Walz, then still a Major, toured the Siegval Line while it was under construction, commenting that it wouldn't be enough to stop a Federation invasion. While there he met with Selvaria Bles: on learning Selvaria had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel since the last time they met, he attempted to invite her to a congratulatory dinner, but was rebuffed. He does not appear to have remained present to observe the subsequent face-off between Selvaria and Crymaria. Role in EWII as Walz joins the battle at Siegval.]] Walz's unit was held back during the early stages of the Federation's assault, Operation Northern Cross, acting as the Empire's trump card. Ausbruch first took to the field as the hammer of Northern Cross fell upon the Siegval Line, with several of their Assault Tanks deploying to meet the first attack on the outer lines. It was not until the final stages of the battle that Walz personally intervened in his powerful and extremely fast custom tank Vulcan, engaging Squad E's forces as they attempted to clear a path to a wounded Kai Schulen. Defeated by Claude, he maintained an upbeat attitude, declaring the Federation officer to be his "soulmate" and looking forward to their next duel. As an early winter set in and the Federation advance faltered with their supply lines critically over-extended and no access to winter gear, Walz's unit formed the centrepiece of the Imperial-counter-offensive. Their breakthrough thrust so far past the Federation lines that Walz could personally lead an assault on the Federation's forward operating camp at Lindbergh Base. There he faced his "soulmate" Claude again: though Squad E could not save the base, they fought a fierce rearguard which allowed Federation forces time to escape the inferno. Walz was once again impressed with Claude's tenacity and tactical skills. Acting against orders from Imperial high command, Walz and his unit joined with other Imperial forces pursuing Federation troops up into the Achtzehn Mountains. As Claude delayed to assault an Imperial train depot shipping war matériel to the Gallian Front, Walz's forces cornered and destroyed Squad D and Squad F almost entirely. Walz then successfully ambushed Squad E just after they arrived, but the latter were saved by the intervention of the Federation's three Snow Cruisers. Though hurled from the hatch of his tank as a near-miss tossed the Vulcan into the air like a toy, Walz survived and managed to make his way back to Imperial lines. Returning home defeated, Walz was unexpectedly called to a meeting with the mysterious head of the Imperial Science Board, Heinrich Belgar. Belgar informed him that Imperial Command had chosen to blame his maverick unit for the defeat at Siegval, and that Ausbruch was to be disbanded. However, Belgar offered Walz a deal: work for him as part of his personal strike force X-0, and Ausbruch would remain whole under its commander, and benefit from all of the cutting-edge technology Belgar had access to. After an extremely disconcerting introduction to the subordinates of his bizarre new ally, Walz agreed, seeing it as the only way he would be able to meet Claude in combat again. Gameplay Main article: Vulcan Walz is always encountered in some variant of his special boss tank Vulcan: he appears in Chapter 4 Part 3, Chapter 6, Chapter 9, Chapter 14, Chapter 15 Part 1, Challenge Skirmish 2 and the first map of the DLC "A Captainless Squad." Vulcan is a tank as distinctive as its commander, decorated with flame designs and flying an enormous Ausbruch banner. It is extremely tough, extremely fast, and armed with a powerful main gun and mortar, but its main gimmick is the high-powered machine gun mounted on its bow: as well as being so strong vs Armor that it can easily destroy the Cactus with just Interception fire, it also has the ability to fire interception fire when the Vulcan itself is moving. Like the turret of a Heavy Imperial Tank, this "Gatling Turret" can be destroyed independently of the rest of the Vulcan, and has to be controlled as if it is a different unit. Vulcan variants gradually become more powerful and gain additional abilities as the game goes on, but all share a common trait: rather than the radiator being mounted in an exposed position at the rear, the front-engined Vulcan has its radiator on top of the hull, directly in front of the turret. This necessitates the use of high ground with Lancers or a Grenadier using an anti-tank mortar. Special Orders Walz has a number of special Orders during his various battles, all of which have a 2 Command Point cost: Chapter 6: The Point of No Return * Charging Through the Flames: All infantry units take no damage when moving through fire. * Mortar Support: Places two artillery strike markers, strikes hit after the player's next turn. Chapter 9: The Winter Witch * Recall: All Imperial infantry units in critical condition (corpses that have not been picked up) return to action and can be controlled immediately. He will also use this in Challenge Skirmish 2. Chapter 15: A Reason to Fight - Part 1 * Partnered Blitz: Immediately moves Crymaria to stand on top of Vulcan Procus. Crymaria will also fire interception fire while Vulcan Procus is moving while this Order is active. Also enables Vulcan Procus to set strike markers for its Valkyrian energy cannon. Quotes * See also: Klaus Walz/Quotes Trivia *He is a very similar character to Radi Jaeger from Valkyria Chronicles, both in personality and role. *Given all of his Order quotes start "let's dance," his name may be intended as a pun on the word "Waltz." *Though it is never said for certain, the "hometown" mentioned in his personnel entry may actually be the Imperial capital, Schwartzgrad, given he is shown to have returned there with Crymaria in Chapter 17. *In Chapter 6, Walz will frequently use both his Orders in the same turn, something rather unusual for AI Commanders who are typically restricted to one Order use per turn. References Category:Squad Captains Category:Valkyria Chronicles 4 characters Category:Ausbruch Category:X-0 Category:Autocratic East Europan Imperial Alliance Category:Imperial Army